If Biden had followed the George Costanza axiom, the Democrats wouldn't be in a hopeless election conundrum.

In the popular show, Seinfeld, George Costanza was the inveterate loser until he figured out that if every decision he’s made was wrong, he should always decide to do the opposite.

Bingo. Success!

Turns out that if President Joe Biden always did the opposite of what he should do, he’d always be right.

I won’t take credit for this insight. Wall Street Journal writer Allysia Finley came up with it a couple of months ago in “The George Costanza Presidency: With each expedient act, from climate policy to the Mideast, Joe Biden digs a deeper hole for himself.”

As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said of Biden: "I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,”

The idea was more recently reinforced in a Journal article by Barton Swaim, Biden’s Worst Liability Isn’t His Infirmity It’s his judgment. He has a special talent for making the worst possible choice out of all available options.”

Swaim wrote:

Amid all the talk of Mr. Biden’s physical and mental impairment, however, an important point bears remembering: He would be in a far stronger electoral position, infirmity and all, if he didn’t make so many stupid decisions.

One after another, Swaim itemizes Biden’s multiple failures. Among them:

The blunder that knocked him out of contention for the Democratic nomination in 1987—he plagiarized a large passage of autobiographical words written by the British Labour leader, Neil Kinnock—must be among the dumbest mistakes ever committed by a high-level American politician.

Dumb is as dumb does.

I guess Swaim didn’t have enough room to itemize every Biden blunder throughout his career, so he concentrated on the past four years. Among them., his:

• Deadly and impulsive decision in 2021 to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

• Ukraine policy is “an incoherent mess.”

• Execution of his Hamas policy is a jumble.

• Forgiveness of student loans is unconstitutional.

• Tolerance of illegal crossings on the Southern border.

And this:

Perhaps his greatest political blunder of a career replete with them: Mr. Biden didn’t have to challenge Mr. Trump to a debate. But he did. “Well, make my day, pal,” he said. “I’ll even do it twice.”

Really? Twice?

But here’s the his biggest brick that a got Biden and the Democrats into today’s unsolvable predicament: The selection of Kamala Harris as his vice president.

When the time came, Mr. Biden chose someone who speaks almost exclusively in gibberish, seems to possess no political or administrative skill, and, if poll numbers are to be believed, does nothing to keep black voters loyal to the president. Four years later, Ms. Harris has achieved the considerable feat of exceeding her boss’s unpopularity.

Which ever way they turn, Democrats will lose, lose, lose.

If Biden decides to remain the candidate, not just him but Democrats up and down the ballot are odds on to have a difficult time winning.

If he stays, the prospect of his complete unraveling or his death, brings Harris to the fore. If before the election, Democrats are sure losers. If after the election, but before the inauguration, there’ll be legal and political consequences we can’t even imagine.

If Biden withdraws, Harris gets his hundreds of millions in campaign contributions. If anything should scare Democrats, the idea of Harris having that kind of leverage would be at the top of the list of frights. If someone wants to oppose her, who can gather enough contributions to challenge her in the few short months ahead?

If Biden withdraws, the legal consequences are unimaginable. Each state has separate election laws governing whether, for example, his name can remain on the ballet. Or whether Harris’ or another candidate’s name can appear on the ballot.

If Biden withdraws, he’d have to release his delegates to vote as they wish. Will Biden endorse someone—Harris or someone else—and will delegates back his designate successor or someone else?

If Biden stays, will unelected delegates stage their own revolt and back someone else? Would that lead to a wide-open and seriously divided convention.

If Biden stays, will he survive the antisemites in the party?

My mind reals at all the possibilities. So I asked AI. Here is chartGPT’s answer:

If President Biden were to drop out of the election, several key events and processes would likely unfold:

1. Democratic Party Response: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) would need to determine a new candidate. This could involve:

   • Primary Elections: If Biden drops out early enough, primary elections could proceed with other candidates already in the race, or new candidates might enter the race.

   • Party Convention: If the drop-out occurs closer to the election, the DNC might hold a special convention to select a new candidate.

2. Potential Candidates: Prominent Democratic figures might step forward as potential candidates. Possible candidates could include Vice President Kamala Harris, various Democratic governors, senators, or former presidential candidates.

3. Campaign Adjustments: The Democratic campaign would need to pivot quickly to support the new candidate. This would involve reorganizing campaign strategies, messaging, and voter outreach efforts.

4. Voter Impact: Biden's withdrawal could impact voter sentiment and turnout. The new candidate would need to energize the Democratic base and appeal to undecided voters.

5. Republican Party Strategy: The Republican Party might adjust its strategy in response to the new Democratic candidate, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the new opponent.

Overall, Biden's withdrawal would create a significant shift in the 2024 election landscape, leading to a rapid reorganization of the Democratic campaign and potentially altering the dynamics of the race.

Thanks, Joe. To paraphrase Stan Laurel: “Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten [us] into!”

Here’s some more, from the Wall Street Journal: “What if Biden drops out?”

Bottom line: If Biden had picked a vice president who was qualified, Democrats would not be having a death rattle now. Democrats are getting their just deserts.